One of the city’s cultural volunteers of excellence has passed away after a prolonged illness.
Tom Dielissen was born on Aug. 24, 1949 and died on Jan. 25. He was involved in a number of charities and worthy causes in the city. He was a member of the Prince George Airport Authority’s board, the chair of the Prince George Public Library’s board, chair of the McGregor Model Forest Community Committee, chair of the City of Prince George Winter City Committee, Director of Prince George St. John’s Ambulance Society, he volunteered with Theatre NorthWest, but there was one that even for him stood taller than the rest.
“I equate (The) Exploration Place with you,” said Mayor Lyn Hall in 2016 when he bestowed Dielissen with the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers, with all recipients chosen by then-Governor General David Johnston. That same year Dielissen was also given the B.C. Community Achievement Award (only 30 British Columbians got that distinction that year).
He was a force in the community, but his best and longest service was to the museum he loved and believed in so deeply. The Exploration Place was not a cause to him, it was a mission.
“Tom Dielissen set out to preserve and communicate our local history. His methods – kind, professional, dedicated, intelligent – made him a part of that history himself,” said The Exploration Place CEO Tracy Calogheros, outlining his 25-plus years on the board and most of those as the chairperson.
“A lot of people around here go the extra mile, but Tom got there first and went a little farther,” Calogheros said. “Under his sharp vision and helpful spirit, we took this museum from a staff of six and a footprint of 11,000 square feet in the 1990s and turned it into the thriving, bursting-at-the-seams hive of activity it is today with more than 30 staff and an additional 12,000 square feet of award-winning space.
“Many people were involved in the growth and transformation of Exploration Place over those years, but it was Tom who held the door to get the good ideas through and step in the way of the not-so-good ideas.”
What set Dielessen especially apart was his constant insistence on thinking of the community above the association or society for which he volunteered. So often, those board members and helpers focus too much on their own interests and don’t look up from those tasks to see and be reminded about the broader public interest.
“To him, community wasn’t ‘a thing,’ it was everything,” said Calogheros. “We at the museum were introduced to university contacts, his church, the local theatre circle, charities for the less fortunate, government agencies, and countless businesses and individuals Tom felt we should form relationships with. It wasn’t because he was trying to distract us, and it wasn’t because he wanted to show off his amazing contacts list. He did it so we could grow as people and Exploration Place could grow as a place of learning and entertainment and historical value. He taught us all that at the core of everything we do here is people. Community.”
Those involved in the same causes as Dielessen agreed that what he was not was a “cocktail party board member” who took part in the social aspect of society governance but wouldn’t show up for the toil. Dielessen was quick and committed to setting up chairs for meetings, sweeping floors when events were done, and the last to leave in case the staff or other volunteers needed any last-minute help.
Perhaps this came from his trade. By profession, he was a forester, so hard work and hands-on work were part of the territory.
“Tom Dielissen was the kind of man you wanted around when you had to say goodbye to someone like Tom Dielissen,” said Calogheros. “He was who you turned to. He was the steady hand, the rational heart. I have been blessed and honoured to have him as a friend and guide, and I speak on behalf of many who would say the same – so many across this Tom-touched community.”
There will be a service celebrating Tom’s life on Saturday at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church at 4 p.m. Immediately following the service there will a reception at The Exploration Place located at 333 Becott Place.
